Statue of
Osman Ghazi from whom the name Ottoman ("Osmanli") is derived
The
Ottoman Turks were the subdivision of the Ottoman
Muslim Millet that dominated the ruling class of the
Ottoman Empire. Reliable information about the early history of the Ottomans is scarce. According to some sources (references needed), the leader (
khan) of the Kayi tribe of the
Oguz Turks, Ertugrul, left
Persia in the mid-thirteenth century to escape the invading
Mongols. He took service with the
sultan of
Rum and was permitted to invade and conquer lands in
Bithynia, adjacent to the
Byzantine territories of
Nicomedia (Izmit),
Nicaea, and
Bursa,. He was successful in this quest, founding an
amirate which rapidly grew in military strength because the lure of Byzantine booty attracted mercenary
gazis from neighboring amirates. His son and successor,
Osman I (reigned ca. 1299-1326), became the
eponymous founder of the Osmanli (later corrupted by Europeans into "Ottoman") dynasty, which ruled the Ottoman empire during most of its 620 year rise and history.
Brief history
The "Ottomans" became first known to the West in
1227 when they migrated westward into the
Seljuk Empire, in
Anatolia. However, the Ottoman Turks would create a state in Western Anatolia under
Ertugrul, the capital of which was
Sögüt; near Bursa to the south of the
Marmara, the body of water between the
Black Sea and the
Aegean Sea. Ertugrul established a principality, as part of the decaying Seljuk empire. His son
Osman expanded the principality; and for him, both the empire and the people were named by Europeans as "Ottomans". Osman's son Orhan expanded the growing empire, taking
Nicaea, present-day Iznik, and crossed the
Dardanelles strait, in 1362. But the Ottoman Empire came into its own when Mehmed II captured the
Byzantine Empire's capital, Constantinople (subsequently to be known as
Istanbul), in 1453.
The Ottoman Empire would come to rule much of the
Balkans, the
Fertile Crescent, and even
Egypt, over the course of several centuries; with an advanced army and navy. The Empire lasted until the end of the First World War, when it was defeated by the
Allies. It was succeeded by the modern
Republic of Turkey, founded by
Kemal Atatürk in 1923.
Culture and the arts
The conquest of Constantinople, made the Ottomans the ruler of one of the most profitable empires on earth, connected to the flourishing Islamic cultures of the time, and at the crossroads of trade into Europe. The Ottomans would grow and make major developments in calligraphy, writing, law, architecture, and military science, and would become the standard of opulence.
Ottoman calligraphy
Because
Islam is a religion which focuses very heavily on learning the central text of the
Qur'an, and because Islamic culture has historically tended towards
discouraging or prohibiting figurative art to a greater or lesser degree,
calligraphy became one of the foremost of the arts.
The early Yâkût period was supplanted in the late
1400's by a new style pioneered by Seyh Hamdullah (1429-1520) which became the basis for Ottoman Calligraphy. Focusing on the
nesih version of the script, which became the standard for copying the
Qur'an (See
Arabic Calligraphy).
The next great change in Ottoman calligraphy comes from the style of
Hâfiz Osman (1642-1698), whose rigorous and simplified style found favor with an empire at its peak of both territorial extent, and governmental burdens.
The late calligraphic style of the Ottomans was created by Mustafa Râkim (1757-1826) as an extension and reform of Osman's style, and placing greater emphasis on technical perfection which broadened the calligraphic art to encompass the sülüs script as well as the
neish script which had been the dominant standard script.
Ottoman poetry
Ottoman poetry produced epic length verse, but is better remembered for shorter forms, such as the
gazel. The epic poet Ahmedi (-1412), for example, is remembered for his
Alexander the Great. His contemporary Sheykhi wrote verses on love and romance. Yaziji-Oglu produced a religious epic on Mohammed's life, drawing from the stylistic advances of the previous generation and Ahmedi's epic forms.
Ottoman painting
By the 1300s the Ottoman Empire's prosperity made manuscript works available to merchants and craftsman, and produced a flowering of miniatures which depicted pagentry, daily life, commerce, cities and stories, as well as chronicling events. While initially is illuminated manuscript work.
By the late 1700s European influences in painting are clear, with the introduction of oils, perspective, figurative paintings, use of anatomy and composition.
See also
Category:Ottoman EmpireCategory:Articles lacking sources (Erik9bot)Category:Late Byzantine-era tribes in the Balkansaf:Ottoman Turkeno:Osmanereru:Турки-османыsr:Османлијеsv:Osmanertr:Osmanlı Türklerizh:奧斯曼土耳其人ks:Seljuk Turks
